It brings in the wake of capable of being but not yet in existence to undermine our most important rights and principles (KSS Companion, p77). These days most people seem to connect “living Constitution” with judicial decisions. With the completion of the Missouri Compromise in 1820, Congress made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. This did not allow slavery in any state acquired under the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Dred Scott was a slave that was taken into a free state by his owner and had to sue the Missouri Courts for his freedom which he won just to be later overturned.
”The Scott Dred Decision” was the result of Scott Dread attempt to become a free man. He was a slave that was brought to Kansas from Missouri by his owner. Scott Dred claimed that, because a former owner had brought him to a free state for a several years, he was entitled his freedom. This was perhaps the most significant ruling in U.S judicial history. The court rejected Scott’s appeal, referring it to that African American doesn’t have any rights under the Constitution.
Dred Scott claimed he was a free man because he resided in free states, Illinois and Wisconsin.As it states in Article IV of the constituion states that any slave who sets foot in a free land , makes them a free man . A state circuit court ruled in Scotts favor but then the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the decision. During the time the case was going on , Scott became property of Mrs. Emersons brother John F. Sanford of New York State. Since Sanford did not live in Missouri, Scott’s legal team of anti slavery lawyers were able to transfer the case to federal court and then on to the Supreme court. When the case arose in the supreme court
There were eleven States of America that were slave states, as they held slaves in a large ratio; they named themselves as “Confederates of America” while the other side was named as “The Union” (Valley of the shadow). The Union was comprised of all the Free States of America in which, there were no trend of keeping slaves and also there was no slave trade along with some slave states. According to the Union, the slave States that were fighting against the abolition of slavery were the Rebels, as they challenged the authority and equality of human beings. According to James B. Griffin, he was not ready to change his life style because of the subjugation of North. The officer informs through his correspondence with his wife through his letters that he has a number of slaves that are appointed do various chores related to plantation and household (McArthur and Burton 1996).
Most People around America find slavery to be completely wrong and feel that it should never be used. Ever since Native Americans inhabited America, slavery has been practiced and used. Locke states, that slavery is legitimate when the slave agrees to be under rule, if the man has committed a crime he should be put into slavery, and if an aggressor in war loses, the aggressor should be under rule of the defender that he attacked. In the opinion of John Locke as presented in his Second Treatise of Government, slavery is only legitimate or right when the man under slavery agrees to it or has committed a wrongdoing, act of war. In the opinion of Locke, if a man is under the power of law or rule, it should only be through his own consent or permission.
When she fiercely resisted to being sold to a white man; Peter Martin, a free black man witness her struggles a brought a witness, William Grisly, to report the incident to Lieutenant -Governor John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe reflected upon the incident then he supported the abolition of slavery but not entirely. Chloe Cooley was the cause of the introduction of the 1793 Act to Prevent the Further Introduction of Slaves and to Limit the Terms and Contract for Servitude Within this Province. This meant that those who held slaves before 9 July 1793, and confirmed the status of those who were already enslaved had secured property rights. Freedom was not granted to one slave.
Racism In the Judicial System Is there racism in our judicial system? Racism in the American court system dates back centuries ago, way back to 1857 for the famous Dredd Scott v Sandford. The Dredd Scott case was about a freed slave who had a temporary home in the state of Illinois which was a free territory. Even though Mr. Scott was a freed slave that still did not grant him citizenship in the United States. Chief Justice Taney held a strong disposition towards blacks and wanted to do everything in his power to ensure that they didn’t become citizens under that Constitution.
The Civil War only ended the slavery, not racism. Though the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment were passed, they were mostly pushed by federal government. One of the most famous case in that period, Plessy v. Ferguson, involved a Louisiana law that required separate seating arrangements for the races on railroads. In the case, the petition stated that this act conflicts the Thirteenth and Fourteen Amendment which give black equality. While the court held that separate accommodations did not deprive blacks of equal rights if the accommodations were equal; in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political; legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts, or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences, and the attempt to do so can only result in accentuating the difficulties of the present situation.
According to Madison’s notes it’s because “the delegates thought it wrong to admit in the constitution the idea that there could be property in men (Spalding, pg. 463). Washington a slave holder was even against slavery, he wrote “there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery” (Spalding, pg. 461). America was not the only country of course that practiced slavery; there were many countries that had practiced slavery before.
When the Declaration of Independence was written over 200 years ago we called ourselves free. But African-Americans stood helpless in the shackles of slavery. When Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, again we called ourselves free. But women were barred from the voting booths and belittled in the shadows of men. African-Americans and women now stand equal on the steps of liberty, but is the struggle for justice over?